I've just setup my dual monitors again for the first time since moving house. I only have a single head gfx card so I've installed a crappy 2mb cirrus logic card for the second screen. I've got one 17" viewmaster and a dodgy old 14" KTX monitor for the secondary. Prob is, if I have the two monitors sitting next to each other (neccessary on my desk at the moment) I get interference lines running up the primary monitor. Its a single horizontal line which moves up every few seconds. Adjusting the refresh rates limits the problem to a small extent but I cant get rid of it entirely unless I move the monitors apart. Is there any way I can shield the monitors so the small one is not interfering with the large one ? I tried as an experiment putting a case side panel between them but it made no difference and looked ugly as hell.
Actually on a related note, this old 14" has no horizontal width adjustment. Running at 800x600, I have 2cm borders around the edge of the window. I can adjust the vertical size not not horizontal. Is there some internal adjustment for these old monitors that might let me get full screen?
I would say scrap the old 14" all together, you can usually find 15-17" monitors for around 20$ at recycle center and what not. It sounds like its not worth the hassle and 14" is mighty small. Also is the emi comming from the small monitor? i had a similiar problem but it ended up being a fridge condenser
The classic way to shield is metal. Take aluminum foil and create a wannabe Faraday's Cage. Don't wrap up the monitor itself, just hold it between them. If that doesn't work, see if a bigger sheet of metal does (as long as it conducts, it's OK... Seems to me that if it's the monitor causing this, you've got bigger problems, like eye strain and emmision. Grab a second hand monitor from EBay if you must ;-)
I'm thinking about upgrading to a 19" soon in which case I will ditch the 14". However in the meantime I wanted to try a fix without having to spend heaps of cash. I dont seem to get eye strain on CRT's. It sounds wierd but I actually get more eyestrain from TFT's...
I've got a side panel between them, and grounded it temporarily with an anti-static wrist strap (I knew there was a reason I bought that thing ) but made no difference. I guess I'll just have to deal with it until I can afford a new secondary monitor. Cheer fellas,
the wrist strap has a built-in safety of a 1 Meg resistor ( it better have, or if you touch a live wire you'll get zapped, being so well grounded ) this will reduce the effectiveness of your grounding the metal panel. try swapping them left to right, maybe it will give enough distance between the part that is generating the interference.
